INTRODUCTION:
Global health inequities and workforce shortages persist despite major investments in medical education. The World Health Organization identifies social accountability – where educational organisations align education, research, and service with the priority health needs of the communities they serve – as central to achieving equitable and sustainable health systems. However, medical education often evolves in isolation from public health priorities, resulting in graduates who are clinically skilled but insufficiently prepared to address the social, environmental, and systemic determinants of health at the local and global level. Greater engagement between public health professionals and educators at all phases of the medical education pipeline is therefore critical to ensure that training programs contribute effectively to population health outcomes.

METHODS:
This interactive workshop examines how social accountability can serve as a shared framework linking medical education and public health. Drawing on case studies from medical schools and training organisations across diverse contexts and educational level, participants will explore how institutions interpret and operationalise social accountability, and where disconnections from public health goals remain. Facilitated discussion will encourage reflection on how public health perspectives can inform curriculum design, institutional priorities, and graduate competencies.

RESULTS:
Analysis of practice and participant reflections will highlight a recurring theme: that without deliberate engagement with public health systems, medical education risks reproducing inequities rather than addressing them. Participants will identify key opportunities for partnership, advocacy, and policy influence to ensure future doctors are prepared to advance prevention, equity, and health system resilience.

CONCLUSIONS:
Social accountability offers a unifying principle for collaboration between medical education and public health. Embedding these values within medical training, and strengthening dialogue between sectors, can help build a workforce equipped to meet the health needs of local and global communities and achieve the vision of health for all.